Sort of the Beginning of The End

April 16. 2010

My alarm had just gone off this morning when I heard Dad calling me. Mom had awakened sometime around 3:00 am with an asthma attack. He had given her 3 doses of her nebulizer treatments and had given her a dose of liquid Albuterol and neither one had helped. They had finally decided to let me know she was in distress.

I took one look at her and knew she was exhausted and terrified and should have already been taken to the ER. I instructed Dad to get ready, checked the level of oxygen she was getting and hastened to wake the boys and Richard up. I explained to him that I was taking her in and needed him to take the boys to the bus stop.

It didn’t take long for them to decide to admit her. She has pneumonia and they are concerned about congestive heart failure. I finally convinced Dad to come home with me so he could take his morning meds and try to take a nap.

He did take a nap and then he ate a good lunch, constantly muttering, “got to keep my strength up”. When he finished lunch he announced he was going to wait a while before going back to the hospital. He settled into his recliner with the newspaper so I went downstairs to throw a load of clothes in the dryer. A short while later the phone rang. By the time I made it upstairs he had answered it and was talking to Mom. She was bored and wanted company, so back to the hospital we went.

I dropped Dad off and went to get the boys from the bus stop. We ran back to the house to get Jordyn’s clothes and I took him and Cameryn to Melissa’s. She had offered to have Jordyn spend the night (with everything going on). I jumped at the chance because I believe it is for the best to keep as much as possible of the bad stuff from Jordyn. Then I went up to the hospital to visit Mom. Richard had been told not to come to work so I was meeting him there.

I was pulled aside by a nurse not long after I arrived. It appeared that Dad had had an accident and they wondered if I would mind taking him home to change clothes. I explained to her that he was not willing to leave Mom and I would need some help. She brought a doctor into the room a short time later. The doctor explained that Mom really needed to rest so they were asking all visitors to leave. He said her breathing would improve if she quit trying to talk and just got some rest. Left without a choice, Dad let us lead him from the room and take him home.

It was apparent as soon as we got home, that Dad was very unhappy with the situation. He was restless and agitated. After about 45 minutes, he asked me if he could talk to me. He said he didn’t care if the hospital threw him out again. He began to cry as he explained, he had to go give “his bride” a kiss goodnight and make sure her breathing was better. He asked me to promise him that I would take him up to the hospital “just for a minute” after dinner so he could say goodnight. When I promised I would, the relief on his face was transforming.

Just before dinner was ready, Dad came into the kitchen. He asked me if I could take him to the hospital. I assured him I was going to after dinner and he turned to me with tears in his eyes once again. “Can we please go NOW?” he asked.
I turned to Richard and told him I was taking Dad up there and that we would be back soon. Then I turned to Dad and told him to get his jacket (he is always freezing in the hospital). Less than 5 minutes later, we were headed back to the hospital.

When we arrived, Mom was asleep. Dad started into the room then thought better of it. He turned back toward me and announced we should probably let her sleep. I turned to leave but he stopped me. He wanted to give her the kiss goodnight he had wanted so desperately to return for. As he leaned over to kiss her, she opened her eyes.
With his heart on his sleeve, he said, “Sweetheart, I need you to keep breathing and get better. I can’t make it without you and I’m just not ready to go yet. I’m counting on you because you are my whole world!’
He bent down and tenderly kissed her forehead and then her lips. When he stood up, he looked down at her, his eyes filled with tears. “I love you. You are my bride and I think you are more beautiful today than you were the day I married you. (He choked up) I love you and I need you so much.”
Her shaking hand reached up to touch his cheek. “I still love you, too,” she whispered.
I stepped into the hall so they wouldn’t see the tears rolling down my cheeks (though I doubt they would have noticed anything at that moment but each other). A passing nurse paused and asked me, with a nod toward the room, “You’re with the “Notebook Couple” aren’t you?”
I nodded my head as I tried to wipe the tears from my face. “They are my in-laws.”
She squeezed my arm with sympathy filled eyes and said, “They are so sweet. We just love them around here.” With a smile, she turned away.
I looked through the doorway to see Mom gazing up at Dad with pure adoration as he stroked her hair. “Me, too,” I whispered as the tears began to fall again.